09/07/2011

Knog Bike Light Hack

I have never owned a Knog light (AKA "hipster cyst") but I see them on bikes in NYC all the time. One bike principle I live by is to never buy a bike light that does not use a battery type that is not offered in the rechargable variety. A long time ago I bought a CatEye light that required a watch battery and I think I gave it away after the battery died because I did not want keep going to the store to buy replacement batteries.

Not all Knog lights use watch batteries and reader Peter sent along a simple hack to keep your Knog battery from going dead by accident. All pictures and text below are credited to Peter.

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The popular Knog Gekko bike lights are turned on and off by pressing a button next to the LEDs. But because this button projects, the on/off button is easily pressed accidentally, causing the light to be switched on while it is in a bag or pocket, causing the the batteries to drain.

The light is made of two parts: the electronics and battery-holder, including the LEDs which stick through holes in the stretchy latex holder, which includes the on/off button. It is an easy task to cut a few millimetres from the end of the on/off button, so that it no longer projects. I used an ordinary pair of sharp office scissors, but a small pair of nail scissors might be better (or even toenail clippers?)

I did not take any pics of the actual process, but the first picture shows the end result; the second one shows the on/off button being pushed outward with a finger, and the third one shows what you are aiming for: the on/off button is now slightly recessed, instead of sticking out.

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Knog makes a USB rechargable version of the boomer, I plug them in every few days at work just to be sure. I also keep a USB batterypack in my bag that would probably charge them 6x over. I think 80% of my things now recharge via USB. I like this very much.